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MEDIBANK INTERNATIONAL

January 13, 2009

Chris Guccione

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

C. GUCCIONE/T. Berdych
6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Is it just the center court crowd, or do you lift here? Can you explain why such good results here in Sydney?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: I can't explain it, not for sure anyway. I love playing here. It's obviously good conditions for me. It's hot and fast. Playing in front of an Aussie crowd doesn't hurt either.
Probably a range of things. You know, obviously played well today and I'm very happy with my performance out there.

Q. Do you get people asking you in the locker room how you get that serve to kick like that?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: A few comments here or there. Not going to compliment you too much if they've got to go out and play you sometimes. It's a bit of a mental edge if they're doing that.

Q. What personal goals have you set for this year?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: Haven't really had a good look at them yet. I mean, I want to get through the summer first. Hopefully get the ranking towards 100 again. Then I'll sit down and have a look where I am and assess my year and we'll go from there.
At the moment, I'm just trying to do as well as I can with these next couple tournaments.

Q. The wind, Lleyton said it favored - or suggested it favored - coming to the net a little bit. Do you think that helped?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: With the wind?

Q. Yeah, harder to hit passing shots.
CHRIS GUCCIONE: Yeah. I mean, it goes both ways. It's also a little bit tougher to time the volleys, and you get caught a few times with the ball swirling around a little bit.
But, you know, I know Tomas likes to play indoors and likes those kind of conditions, so I think that helped me a little bit today.
I think I also had to win a few points in the back and break his serve. I mean, the wind probably saved me a little bit, but tough conditions out there for both players.

Q. How far are you away from finding a coach?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: I'm talking to a few people at the moment. In pretty deep discussions. Hopefully not too far a way. I'll let you know if anything happens with that.

Q. As pleasing as your game was, sometimes you opened up the court and couldn't put the shot away.
CHRIS GUCCIONE: Well, I mean, it's a pretty good sign if you've got the finishing shot and you miss it. I'd rather have that situation than missing easy balls when he's on top of the point.
If I'm opening up the court and having that finishing ball, it's pretty easy to fix. Get on the practice court and work on a few specific things. No, I was pretty happy with today overall.

Q. It's important for you to make a bit of progress at this event, given the points you're defending?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: Every event helps. It helps. I've had good results here, so this could be my best chance to get deep into the tournament. I mean, the more matches I win the higher my ranking gets obviously. Every win helps.

Q. How good to get that win after the qualifying result in Brisbane?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: Yeah, it's great. I came out today really confident and struck the ball well. Yeah, I mean, I didn't play anywhere near as well as that up in Brisbane. The conditions were a little bit different playing under a roof there, and the courts were a little bit slower.
But, yeah, to come out and play like that in my next singles match after losing qualifying, I think it's good sign.

Q. Did doubles help you, you think?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: Yeah, definitely. Same thing last year. I played some doubles in Adelaide and fine tuned the volleys. Just good to get on the court and get a few matches. Doubles is great for my game.

Q. Are you someone who temperamentally needs a coach to push you along?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: I think everybody needs a coach sometimes. I mean, I haven't had a coach for a while and I did pretty well today. I mean, it's good to have some input a lot of the time, but I don't think you need someone there all the time.

Q. Are there any areas of your game that you still need to improve?
CHRIS GUCCIONE: A lot of areas. I'd like to improve everything. If you didn't need to work on anything you wouldn't need to practice, would you?

End of FastScripts

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